In every decision, we must evaluate how it will affect our descendants seven generations into the future

Recently there’s been a lot of attention focused on a Kickstarter fund to complete 7 Generations, a documentary to bring awareness to two proposed sulfide-ore copper mines that would threaten Lake Superior and the Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA).

As I live in Minnesota, this is a big fucking deal to me. It should be a big fucking deal to you, too, regardless of where you live.

The reason the project is named “7 Generations” is based on a Native American principle that states that in every decision, be it personal, governmental or environmental, we must evaluate how it will affect our descendants seven generations into the future.

Northern Minnesota is home to Lake Superior and the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. Lake Superior holds ten percent of the world’s fresh water. The BWCA is a remote network of more than 1,100 lakes and rivers that offer a silent, soothing and surreal experience via a canoe or on foot. It’s a place where the only sounds are lake water lapping against the shore, loons calling, the wind in the trees and the campfire crackling at night. It’s a place where motored boats and airplanes are banned. It’s also a place where you can drink water from the lake without treating it.

Oh, sure, they say they’ll be careful. They promise to clean up after themselves. Blah, blah, blah. Here’s what they can’t promise: That after 500 years of treating mining wastewater stored in open-pit tailing ponds, the wastewater will be safe to return to the environment. But in the interim, all communities downstream from the poison ponds will be “protected” by a 252-foot tall dam—that will never leak.

Give us a break, PolyMet Mining and Twin Metals. You really think we’re that retarded?

And by the way, the cost of this treatment could run as much as $6 million per year.

We’re not entirely powerless to stop this destruction. This is an election year. Many states are having primaries on Tuesday. Minnesota certainly is. Get out there and vote.

Vote for officials who have pledged not to support leasing public lands (or selling them) to mining companies. Do your research and find out if your current elected officials are on the side of selling out your public land to corporations leveraging public lands for short-term profits.